Rubber heel.



F. A. NOLAN.

Y RUBBER `HEEL APPLICATION FILED IULY I7, |916.

Putentd Mal'. 20, 1917.

. embedded therein,

UNITED. sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

:FRANCIS A.v NOLAN, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

RUBBER HEEL.

To all whom z't may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANCIS A. NoLAN. `-a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota,have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Rubber Heels, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in is adapted to be nailed on tothe shoe. More particularly the object of the present invention is toprovide improved means for causing the nails to most effectively securethe rubber heel on to the shoe. It has been common practice to providerubber heels with metallic washers or metallic plates and formed withnail holes but as commonly constructed the nails must be made toregister with the holes in the embedded washers or plate, in order toinsure that. the nails pass directly and not slanting therethrough.Where the washers or plates are providedwith holes more than the numberof nails which are used for securing the rubber heel on the shoe, suchwashers or plates are necessarily weakened. The object of the presentinvention is to provide the heel with a plate preferably of metalembedded therein, and so constructed that the nails when ldriven throughthe heel and into the shoe will fperforate the plate without thenecessity o previously made in the rubber to register with the points atwhich the plate is perforated.

To these ends my invention comprises the features of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter more particularly described and definedin the claims.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan of a rubber shoe heel, a portion'thereof being broken away and in section to disclose the plate which isembedded therein; Fig. 2 is a section taken upon the line X-X of Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is a section of a detail illustrating two positions which thenalls assume in the act of securing the rubber heel on the shoe; Fig. 4is another section of a detail illustrating a position which a nailassumes when driven against a plate not,

constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 5 is a plan of arubber heel containing a fastening plate of alternatlve construction, aportion of the heel being broken away and in section for the purposeof'exposing a portion of the plate; Fig. 6 1s a Specification of LettersPatent.

guide holes being,

' tion of the -lower surface of the Patented Mar. 20, 191 7.

Application led July 17, 1916. Serial'lo. 109,654.

of a shoe and a detail of a heel ofthe construction shown in Figs. 9 and10 shown nailedon the shoe.

Referring to the drawing, let A represent a rubber or other resilientheel and B a plate which is embedded in the heel, said plate beingmolded or vulcanizedtherein. One side of the plate facing the lowersurface of the heel 1s provided with a roughened Surface C made byintersecting scratches or grooves 2, in which the points of the nails 3which are usedrforvattaching the heel to the shoe catch to prevent thepoints from being deflected from their course when the nails are beingdriven through the rubber heel and into the shoe. The scratches orgrooves are close together and cover the entire surface of the plate orthat zone or zones through which it is intended to drive the nails.`IThe scratches or grooves alsov serve to weaken the plate, so that thenails will more readily perforate the plate when driven through therubber heel and into the shoe. With this form of construction it is notnecessary to have previously formed holes in the `rubber to registerwith holes in the plate, but the nail or nails may be driven in anywherein the portion covered bythe' plate, and it will be sure of entering theplate without deflection or bending. When desired, the plate may beformed with openings 4 of any suitable shape or location, through whichthe rubber .constituting the heel passes to more securely hold the plateembedded in the heel. A certain porrubber heel indicated by 5 may beroughened or otherwise marked over the plate, so as to act as a spottingmeans for ositloning the nails to be driven through tige plate andthrough the heel. In driving the nails through the plate, a bur 6 isformed, which acts as a reinforcement to assist in preventing theplatefrom buckling, and also to secure the nails, rubber heel and plate inplace and together.

11 convex.

In Fig. 4, a plate 7 is illustrated having a smooth surface and a nailwith its point deflected and bent when being driven through the heel.This objection is entirely overcome by my invention. The roughened andreinforcing surface of the plate may be formed by a mass of smallindentations 8 as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 when desired, but it willbe noted that these indentations or detents do not perforate the plate,but most eectively reinforce its surface against bending or buckling.The plate may be additionally reinforced by forming flanges 9 (see Fig.7) around all of its edges. In gigi 8 the plate B is shown applied to afull In the construction illustrated in Figs. 9 to 11 inclusive, theplate member is of a different design,.illustrating one of many Ways inwhich the invention can be modified. The inner surface 10 of theresilient body is concave and the outermost or lower surface When theheel is nailed onto the shoe, as illustrated in Fig. 11, the heelisidrawn tightly against the lower flat surface of the'heel portion bythe plate and nails, the plate also being dishe'd as shown to mosteffectively draw and hold the heel firmly against the flat lower surfaceof the shoe. A closer fitting joint is thus provided continuouslyaroundv the edge vof the heel and against the shoe, thus obviating theuse of cement.

In accordance lwith the patent statutes, I'

have described the principles of operation of my invention, togetherwith the apparatus which I now consider to represent the u bestembodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that theconstruction shown is only illustrative, and that the inventio-n can becarried out by other means land applied to uses other than thoseY aboveset forth within the scope of the following claims. 4

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protectby Letters Patent is y 1. A cushion heel providedl with an easilypenetrable substantially continuous plate embedded therein formed withdetents in its lower surface for engaging and guiding points of nailsdriven through said heel and plate and into a shoe.

2. A cushion heel provided with an unbroken penetrable plate embeddedtherein fdrmed with arough surface facing the lower surface of the heel,for the purposes specified.

A cushion heel provided with a penetrable continuous plate embeddedtherein formed with a large'number of nail point engaging detents.

4. A cushion heel provided with a penef, trable continuous plateembedded therein formed with a.rough surface weakened'ata llarge numberof points by a corresponding number of detents.

5. A cushion heel provided with a penetrable continuous surface detentedte engage and prevent the points of nails deflecting or bending fromtheir direct course through the heel and plate, said plate beingreinforced to prevent buckling; v

6. A cushion heel provided with a pene-- trable plate embedded thereinand formed with a plurality of intersecting grooves'on one of its facesfor engaging and, positively guiding the points of nails driventhroughsaid heel and plate and into the shoe.Y

7. As a new article of manufacture, a cushion heel provided with animperforate metallic plate embedded therein, said plate being penetrableby the fastening means employed to unyieldingly secure the heel on ashoe.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANCIS A. NOLAN.

